Box Lacrosse

Box Lacrosse is an indoor version of lacrosse played extensively in Canada. In Canada, the indoor game is far more popular than the field game. It is typically played in hockey rinks during the off season and it played 6 v. 6., with 5 “runners” and a “goalie” – similar to hockey. All “runners” play on both offense and defense as in basketball and hockey.

Canadian Box Lacrosse players have become an increasingly dominant force in NCAA DI lacrosse which has lead to rapid growth for US Lacrosse players to acquire the skills learned by playing box lacrosse.

A few of the benefits:

Improved stickwork

Throwing and catching in tight spaces

Shot fakes, finishing, and shooting accuracy

Two man game to generate offense.

Up tempo transitional offense

Playing defense with your feet and body.

Box Lacrosse in Action:

Midget A: Freshman & Sophomores

What the college coaches are saying:

“Last season, according to Canadian businessman and lacrosse enthusiast Jason Donville, there were 119 Canadian Division I lacrosse players, even though the Canadian Lacrosse Association (Canada’s US Lacrosse equivalent) reported around 8,000 people in the entire country playing field lacrosse. In contrast, US Lacrosse’s 2010 Participation Survey counted close to 380,000 people playing field lacrosse in the United States. Despite these disparities, the Canadian national team won the FIL World Lacrosse Championship in 2006, and came within two goals of beating the Americans again in 2010. **

American college coaches — many of whom have had a front-row seat watching Canadians sophisticated stick skills and catch-and-shoot prowess — see the indicators.

“When you watch Canadian kids score, when you see their skill level around the cage, you wonder to yourself, ‘Jeez, are we teaching kids [in the U.S.] the wrong things?'”

In a LaxMagazine.com article last May, Denver’s Bill Tierney echoed similar sentiments. “If I was US Lacrosse, I wouldn’t let any kids play field until they were 10 or 12,” he said. “Until box lacrosse grows in the United States, it’ll continue to be this way.”“